Found a Rolex years ago. What to do with it now?

Real or not, that is a nice looking watch.

 

Cool story and amazing knowledge being tossed around. Now I wanna know if it's real or not. I hope it is and you get to either keep it or sell it as you decide.

 

Box and papers are always important in order to support the authenticity of a watch.

The needs a service and is also in disrepair with a missing small sub dial hand.

 

In order for the watch hand to be fixed, the case must be opened and the crown removed. The movement needs to be removed from the case. Hopefully the small hand is easily found. Otherwise it is somewhere inside the movement

But anyway during this process, it will be easy to
Verify the authenticity of the movement.
Why would you not want to do this?
And if it is a Zenith movement you should have this done by Rolex. Rolex took the Zenith Primero movement and made a number of changes to create the Daytona watch.

Also most would change the rubber gaskets and clean the re oil the movement.

But hey it’s your watch. If you don’t want to to do anything you don’t have to.

just enjoy it.

 

https://www.watchtime.com/featured/tracking-the-rolex-daytona-a-53-year-history/

 

Somewhere in the thread I thought there was an issue with the sub dial hand. You correct me that that is not the case. Sorry just trying to help. So the problem is an hour marker or rather the Arabic hour at the three o•clock position which need repair work.

Any dial work on a Rolex would be exactly the same procedure as I posted. You can’t simply open the watch from the sapphire side.

After 20 years a service is a good thing. Rolex will replace any parts which are no longer in spec, oil the movement, adjust the balance wheel, and polish the case and clasp correctly. Well worth the money spent.

then if you do want to sell it, you will have the service record. The next buyer will give that a great deal of consideration. A watch without box or papers and no service record would sell at a significantly lower price.

 

quick question for you.
You watch runs right?
Do this quick test. (Watch must be wound and running)
Allow the large seconds hand to run.
Next undo the crown, turning it anti-clockwise until the crown pops out
Tell me if both the large seconds hand and small seconds hand on the subdial are still running.

Next pull the crown out to the final extended position, the position which allows you to adjust the time meaning hours and minutes. Tell me if the large seconds hand and the small sub dial seconds hand are running or have they stopped or is one running and the other stopped.

 

Here is what the stamping on the clasp should look like Notice the precision the arrangement and the 750

 

Here are some details to help you determine the authenticity of your watch.
Due to the position and arrangement of the sub-dials your watch cannot be a 4130 caliber Rolex in-house model.

So to be authentic it must have a zenith movement. Re reading the WatchTime magazine article from Feb 2001 your watch should be a non hacking Zenith 4030 movement with a power reserve of 54 hours. These facts you can verify yourself.

Also the Rolex stamping on the clasp for White gold is either 750 alone or 18k and 750 together.

Any jeweler will be able to tell you if you have a white gold piece even if they can’t authenticate the movement.

Good luck and let us know

 

Where did the “1” go?


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Check out this webpage
I think that your watch is authentic!
https://millenarywatches.com/meaning-rolex-750/
I believe that yours was probably made after 1995 maybe 1999.
Congrats

 

For comparison....Stephano has listed one for sale at $38k Euros.

He is a well known collector and watch historian.

https://vintagewatches.it/en/rolex-daytona-ref-16519-quadrante-sodalite-serti/

 

Come to think of it, I lost a watch exactly like the one identified in this post. It was back in Europe, 2001, while I was vacationing in Monte Carlo. I lost it as I was walking to the casino. I went back and searched for it in the ditch but never found it.
I can’t believe you found it! I’m so excited!!!
I’ll pm you my address. Thanks so much!


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A found watch or article, belongs to its rightful owner, the person who paid to own it.
Hard to say how best to proceed. Rolex may have some documentation on the original owner. If that were 1999, the owner may have passed away. Or maybe not. I think it would be fair to try to reconnect the dots. After all if you found something lost, the ownership is unresolved.
Imagine if you had paid for a white gold Daytona with diamonds. Wouldn’t you want the watch returned to you?

 

I've worked on watches for 30 years and have a couple of Rolexes although not a Daytona. MalibuGuy has given some of the most accurate information on here. I agree with the mismatched bezel to Zenith based dial layout and horrible clasp engraving. A person who has handled Rolexes can figure this out even without opening just by feel, winding/setting etc. Obviously the back needs to come off at some point. Short of that it could be put on a timing machine. A clone ETA or Miyota or Chinese movement will not be running with nearly perfect beat (within 0.2 ms) or good amplitude and especially won't keep a similar rate within 5 seconds in all 6 positions. So even if the watch is running fast/slow just looking at it on a timing machine including the variance of rate will tell the tale. I've worked on some douseys where the rate averages out but the minute to minute is all over the road. A Rolex of the past 30 years' manufacture is too good to do this (unless dirty or messed with inside).

 

One more thing. I don't like the dial either. The 30 isn't centered at the bottom. Rolex doesn't make mistakes like that. Also the "1" from the 15 should be somewhere in view (there's nowhere for it to go!) So if missing it was installed that way. Applied numerals, stones, etc really don't come off of original Rolex dials on their own. I'm sure there are exceptions but too many things wrong with this one to be original.

 

I really want to know how the story ends!

 

In regards to if I'd lost this watch, im sure the original owner/ or myself would of had an insurance policy on it and it was paid out..to a higher or stated replacement value.. great watch,
Who's to say if, the original owner were to have received it back, would he pay his insurance claim back? I'd say zero, chance.. (then he'd be the idiot to walk in to the agents office with it on, lol)

And yes, Rolex, keeps track of all its watches, my insurance friend, traded one in, to a dealer, upgraded his to a nicer one, and bought an additional one for his junior partner, another Rolex, and it sent Red Flags, up.. so to stop anyone from buying them, and upcharging them.

 

I don’t think the fake ones have serial numbers.